No. 2 UCSB Falls to No. 5 Stanford in Conference Opener

Bryce Miller

Oct 13, 2012

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Opening 2012 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, No. 2 UC Santa Barbara (14-4) dropped its first conference game, 9-7, with a narrow defeat by No. 5 Stanford (7-3). The teams' third matchup of the year, Saturday's contest was anticipated to be a powerhouse showdown. After a triumphant 12-9 victory over the Cardinal in the Southern California Tournament (Sept. 29) which eventually propelled the Gauchos into a second-place finish, Stanford returned to UCSB's Campus Pool seeking vengeance.

Taking advantage of a 6-on-5 opportunity, Stanford's Nick Hoversten scored a 5:47 goal to open the Cardinal scoring. Less than a minute later, BJ Churnside also found the back of the net to put the Card ahead 2-0. Undoubtedly a rowdy first quarter, the teams put forth five consecutive kick outs before Stanford continued its scoring streak, leaving the Gauchos with a four goal deficit at the conclusion of the period.

Halfway through the second quarter, UC Santa Barbara's Evan Dellinger turned the Gaucho momentum around, scoring his first of two goals of the day to put UCSB on the board. Junior Dylan Baliani contributed to UCSB's offensive effort, firing a bullet into the inside bar of the cage at 1:05, bringing the score to 6-2.

Returning from halftime, UCSB's Nick Tomasello and Bryce Miller scored a goal each - allowing the Gauchos to outscore Stanford 2-1 in the third quarter, bringing the gap to an 8-4 Stanford advantage.

As the Gauchos trailed with a final quarter ahead, head coach Wolf Wigo took advantage of the squad's remaining timeouts - proving effective in the Gauchos' late game scoring effort. Tomasello, Miller, and Dellinger tallied three more goals to bring the UCSB total to seven.

While a relentless offense and tough defense allowed UCSB to outscore the Card, 5-2, in the second half of the game, the Cardinal's early offensive advantage proved to be enough to upset the second-ranked Gauchos. UCSB fell to Stanford 9-7, marking its first home loss of the season.

Dellinger, Miller and Tomasello led the Gaucho scoring, posting two goals apeice, while Myles Christian led on defense with seven saves.

UC Santa Barbara is slated for yet another SoCal Tournament rematch as they prepare to face UCLA in their second MPSF game of the season. The conference matchup will be hosted at UCSB's Campus Pool on Saturday, October 20 at noon.

Tickets for home men's water polo games are available by visiting the Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics Building on campus, by calling (805) 893-UCSB or by clicking here.